Tuesday, 19 January 2010

GLAAD and NPR have paid you a heck of a lot of money to come and harrass us. Glad your accounts are getting fat, can you leave us alone now?

Go back and pretend that you turned all the conservatives. They will probably believe your tripe. We don't.

I wrote:

I wish!January 18, 2010 - 23:37 ET by Zoe Brain

Um... I'm Australian. Doing a PhD in Canberra. Living below the poverty line on a subsistence stipend.

You think anyone would pay me enough money for me to endure the kind of rubbish that I've gotten here and elsewhere? The personal attacks, the remarks about my genitalia, how perverted I am etc etc? Oh yes, and the accusations of bribery, astroturfing etc based on notions people have plucked out of their... hats. Or other places.

This place is mild in comparison with some.

I just keep on plugging away, giving what evidence I can, saying what we can be sure of and where we might be wrong.

Some will never be convinced. But the more invective, the more shrill irrational fury that's thrown my way, replete with accusations made up out of conspiracist theory fantasy, and the more calmly I try to rebut with facts, the more convincing my argument.

Thank you for doing your part there, I appreciate it.

Careful, or some will accuse you of Mobying, of being my sockpuppet, to make me look good in comparison.

Zing!

You see... it does get to me. A little. I pretend it doesn't, that I'm always the cool, calm, rational and objective Zoe. Very Vulcan.

Just sometimes though... I let a little bit of the Snark out. I deliberately try to hurt back. I'm not proud of that. Although what I wrote there was true, even the bit about Mobying, I didn't do it to try to convince. I did it to make the poster feel bad. I did it because I got fed up, and lashed out. If I was a better person, I wouldn't have, I acted out of malice because I'd been hurt.

So if anyone thinks I'm some kind of plaster saint, think again. When I say I'm a very imperfect human being, I mean it.

9 comments:

One thing I noticed on that site; those wingnuts think NPR is government funded and want that stopped. They got their wish more than 20 years ago, NPR is funded by donations, less than 2% of their budget comes from government entities.

By reciprocal ethics biting back once in a while is not just not-bad but rather appropriate, even virtuous. It's only a bad idea if it's not going to contribute to or might even hurt what your trying to do.

Batty is right Zoe.Lashing out against idiocy is a natural and human act.You not flawed sweety, You are human. And to be honest you proved it very well.Not everyone gets a hug or a free pass. Sometimes an idiot needs to be confronted and lashed out against. I couldnt think of a more educated and sharp wit to do it than you.

Zoe, I want to thank you so much for the time and hard work that you spend in your efforts to try to educate people about the science and facts of intersexed and transsexual people. I'm sure that you’re getting through to some of the people, at least those who are willing to take the time and check out the facts for themselves and think them over for themselves. Someone once said: "Don't try to confuse me with the facts; my mind is already made up!" Or was it: “My mind is already made up; so don’t try and confuse me with the facts!” Sadly far too many people seem to have this kind attitude. I’ve known several like that through out my life.

I’ve taken the time to read every single post you made on the NewsBusters “NPR's This American Life Tells a Tale of Two Eight-Year-Old Transgenders” thread and of course all of the replies to them. While you may not be a saint, you have far more patience and keeping your cool for far longer then I would have.

One thing that I find interesting was that no one seemed to realize, or mention if they did, that this episode of NPR’s show “This American Life” titled “#374 - Some Where Out There” was originally produced and aired almost a year ago on 02/16/09. I have an .mp3 file of the show that I downloaded from itunes (it’s free there) and have listened to it several times. I’m not sure if it’s still available there, however.

I thought the show was a very touching and heart warming and was well done. I only wish that I had had the courage that these children have when I was that age. Growing up in a small farming town, full of rednecks, on the prairies of the Great Plains here in the USA during the 50’s thru 70’s, didn’t afford me any option other then near total repression of my true self in order to survive. I still was bullied and beaten up a lot, because I was so different from all the other “boys”. I can really relate to your reference to Mr. Spock. Back during the 60’s I tried very hard to control & repress my emotions and to be logical just like him. About the only thing I ever got good at was raising my right eyebrow like Spock did when ever he said “Interesting”. Well, I also did get somewhat good at analyzing things logically and scientifically like Mr. Spock too.

About Me

Actually, I am a Rocket Scientist.
Also hormonally odd (my blood has 46xy chromosomes anyway) and for most of my life, I looked male, and lived as one, trying to be the best Man a Gal could be. Anyway, in May 2005 that started changing naturally for reasons still unclear, and I'm now Zoe, not Alan : happier and more relaxed not to have to pretend any more.
UPDATE - reason now identified as the 3BHSD form of CAH.

Reviews

This blog, written by a rocket scientist, is a fascinating collection of information, both personal and scientific, regarding intersex, transsexualism and related psychosocial and psychosexual issues....It is erudite and heartfelt. Just read the posts about the passport issue. You won't know whether to laugh, weep or crawl into a ball and rock gently in a corner - an amazing person.- David---The reason I so appreciate bright, perceptive people - as opposed to ideologues whose intelligence does little to illuminate - is that they manage to both instruct and learn with a certain grace. Among such rarities in the transblogosphere is Zoe, whose direct speech and clear humanity always make her worth reading, even if one doesn’t always agree with her every conclusion.- Val---The following is a request for permission to archive your A.E.Brain blog site which we have wanted to do for several years...The Library has traditionally collected items in print, but it is also committed to preserving electronic publications of lasting cultural value....Since (1996) we have been identifying online publications and archiving those that we consider have national significance....We would like to include A.E.Brain blog site in the PANDORA Archive...-Australian National Library